Under the title ‘The Splitting of the Moon,’ this book presents the stance of my revered teacher Javed Ahmed Ghamidi. It has been extracted from episodes 38 and 39 of the video series ‘Response to 23 Questions on Religious Opinions of Javed Ahmed Ghamidi.’ This series of discussions addresses the objections commonly raised against Javed Ahmed Ghamidi’s thoughts from the perspective of traditional approaches to the study and interpretation of Islam and presents his unique stances in contrast to the consensus views of traditional scholarship. These views, often presented as the consensus views of the ummah, are actually prevalent interpretations of various debates around individual matters about the Qur’an, the Sunnah, Hadith and Seerah (biographical accounts of the Prophet). Javed Ahmed Ghamidi has partially or entirely dismissed these purportedly unanimous views. He found them to be in conflict with the facts found within the Qur’an’s texts and the practices known as the Sunnah, as well as with the acknowledged facts in the fields of Hadith and Seerah.
The discussions follow the method of question-and-answer and interactive dialogue. Muhammad Hassan Ilyas participates in the conversation as Javed Ahmed Ghamidi’s interlocutor. He has comprehensively organized all the issues that have been presented as controversial views of Javed Ahmed Ghamidi and has faithfully and eloquently presented them before the teacher. In response, the teacher has elucidated the traditional viewpoints further, analyzed the arguments of traditional scholars, and presented his own stance, thoroughly substantiated with full clarity.
I have taken up the responsibility to compile and present the series of discussions in the form of monographs. To meet the needs of professional writing, I have divided the detailed and long discussions into sections, explained the allusions, and explicated the terse statements which might sound ambiguous to some readers. Where appropriate, relevant excerpts from Javed Ahmed Ghamidi’s writings have been quoted. These writings enrich the discussion through further explication of, elaboration upon, support to, and emphasis upon significant points borrowed from the works of erudite scholars of great repute and stature. The purpose of this exercise is to present the audio-visual records of the highly useful and instructive discussions in writing so that students and researchers have ready access to this source and benefit from it. Shahid Mahmood has provided support in compilation and research, executing this responsibility with utmost diligence.
These articles are essentially my understanding of Javed Ahmed Ghamidi’s thoughts and views. However, fortunately, Javed Ahmed Ghamidi has been kind enough to read and revise them. As a result, my prominent mistakes in understanding his views are corrected on the one hand and the style of presentation is reformed on the other.
It is an honor for me to infer the scholarly discussions on religious themes from my mentor’s verbal discussions and it is definitely a great privilege to have his principal guidance in this onerous task. This is a boundless favor from God Almighty, which definitely surpasses the measures of my ability and capability. All praise is due to Allah.
The aforementioned video series and articles based on those discussions are being organized and arranged by Ghamidi Center of Islamic Learning, Al-Mawrid US. May Allah accept this collective effort by the organization and the individuals involved. Amen.